1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to breathing devices, and more particularly to respiration hoods useful in protecting a person during biological or chemical emergencies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recent world events have drawn public concern, attention and focus to the persistent problem of terrorism. At the core is the paradox that the same information technology advances that have facilitated democratic governance have also found use in manipulating and then arming those that may disagree with the majority. Short term distortions in this information stream, by misinformation, disinformation and other manipulations, are now used successfully to motivate these dissident drives. Simply, the slow and deliberate processes of democratic consensus operate in the time domain of a fully developed information stream that is much slower than the psychological manipulation time constant of a single person, or a small group, of those on the fringe. To conceal the manipulator these manipulated fringes are then selectively directed to the same information technology for all sorts of chemical, biological, radiological, or even nuclear devices of terror. The majority then is either intuitively aware, or has been brought to awareness by recent events, of the pervasive existence of these manipulators together with the plentiful supply of the manipulated malcontents and the horrible prospects of this fertile combination now distort our ability to engage in clear thought.
These distorted perceptions stem from our current inability to fend for ourselves, to protect those that depend on each one of us, and some measure of individually accessible protection is necessary in order to carry on any rational democratic discourse. Against this backdrop being helpless is fundamentally antisocial, if not undemocratic.
Characteristically those who are manipulated to commit terror must lack the organization, skill repertoire and other attributes of a well organized social group—otherwise they reveal the social structure of the manipulator, who is then exposed to vigorous reprisal. For these reasons most of the terror devices are inherently less than well developed, being significant only for the fear and insecurity they create and not for the degree of their technical efficacy or development. The defensive devices to these items of terror similarly do not need to be at the zenith of perfection, needing only the basic attributes of protection but in a form that can be widely and inexpensively made and acquired and also easily used and thereafter disposed. Simply, the devices that allow us to fend for our selves must be fully democratic so that we can remain democratic.
Within the group of easily produced devices of terror it is those that rely on air borne delivery that are best defeated by self help. Thus air borne chemical agents, biological agents or even radiological agents are those that present the most immediate risk, being easily absorbed by skin contact or in the course of respiration. In the past various gas masks have been devised which in one way or another filter the breathing air exemplified by the various methods of their attachment or function in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,630,412 to Dubruille; 6,470,887 to Martinez; 6,070,580 to McDonald, et al.; 5,771,886 to Maire, et al.; and 5,623,923 to Bertheau, et al. Alternatively, various respiration hoods in the prior art are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,102,034 to Buhlmann; 6,134,716 to Richardson, 6,371,116 to Resnick; 6,463,589 to Wang; 5,526,804 to Ottestad; and 5,452,712 to Richardson. While each of the foregoing are suitable for the purposes intended, none posses the simplicity and use convenience that is required in a terror emergency, and particularly the convenience that allows quick personal use thereof and quick deployment to protect an infant or a child.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a terror emergency event is usually recognized and announced way before its full scope and effectiveness are assessed. Thus there is both a circumstance where the protective response needs to be quick and also one that is basically uninformed about the event that is responded to. For example an alarm condition may be evoked by suspicions of a bacteriological (e.g., anthrax) event, a chemical (e.g., nerve gas) event, or a radiologic emission into the local atmosphere, each of which dictating a similar immediate response amongst the potentially exposed public regardless of the exact nature of the event. Universally these atmospherically carried hazards also define the primary exposure path as one associated with skin contact and respiration and it has long been recognized that filtering the aspirated air together with some passive shielding of the exposed skin surfaces provides the most practical level of protection. Thus the common attributes of the terror mechanism define the response and a simple, inexpensive and therefore discardable barrier that filters the respiration intake is extensively desired and it is one such barrier that is disclosed herein.